RayVio Corp of Haywood, CA, USA, which is commercializing deep-ultraviolet (UV) LEDs and consumer disinfection solutions, is expanding its international sales force and manufacturing capacity to support increased customer demands. The facility expansion at the original site is scheduled to be complete by year-end.
RayVio's core technology was invented by co-founder Dr Yitao Liao (chief technology officer) and professor Theodore Moustakas, and is exclusively licensed from Boston University. The patent-protected UV LED technology is based on a proprietary and fundamentally different approach compared with techniques that have been attempted by the industry unsuccessfully for the past 15 years, it is claimed, enabling the firm to provide the highest optical power at the lowest cost than is otherwise commercially available.
RayVio's existing Silicon Valley headquarters houses its wafer growth, chip fabrication, packaging and test R&D and proto-typing capabilities. The expansion of the facility should enable RayVio to reduce cycle time and produce in excess of 2 million LED units annually through the installation of additional manufacturing and test equipment. Combined with its contract manufacturing strategy, RayVio says that it aims to keep pace with the increasing demand of the fast-growing deep UV LED market.
Demand is being driven by industrial and consumer applications ranging from water disinfection to consumer medical devices serving multiple global markets. With the demonstration of power levels up to 45mW from a single-emitter device, and multi-chip offerings capable of delivering much higher power, RayVio says its complete product suite is tailored to meet the needs of all UV applications.
"Our proven, novel technology platform is producing best-in-class performance," claims Dr Doug Collins, VP of engineering and operations, "and at the same time we are executing against our cost-reduction roadmap, allowing our downstream partners to make their products a reality."
Until recent achievements in both performance and cost, UV LEDs were limited to niche applications, notes the firm. With the availability of high-optical-power UV LEDs, and system-level pricing that is competitive with alternative UV sources, the UV LED industry is seeing a major uptake in solutions being provided, it adds.
"With the funding we received earlier this year, we have the capital required to grow the company aggressively," comments co-founder & CEO Dr Robert C. Walker. RayVio came out of stealth mode at the beginning of 2015 after closing its $9.3m series B round of financing. It is currently sampling selected customers, and working closely with partners in the UV LED curing, medical device and water, surface & air disinfection markets.
